Special Origins
by PokemonFan151
Summary: Ever wonder how the Left 4 Dead Special Infected came to be? Here's a tragic story of the Special Infected's origins and the break up of a young group of friends.
1. Alice's Nightmare

Alice's dream was more horrifying than usual. She was curled up on the floor, her arms hugging her knees to her chest. For some reason, she was sobbing uncontrollably. It was nighttime, the lightning indicating an approaching storm. Alice knew she should get up off the floor, but she couldn't. All she could do was cry.

~Where am I?~ Alice wondered in the rational part of her mind. She found herself unable to talk through her shoulder-wracking sobs. ~This place feels familiar...~ Through her tears, she noticed the polished tile floor, puddles of her own tears under her.

~Wait, I know this floor,~ Alice said to herself. ~I'm in Hunt's house. But why am I here?~ She racked her mind for an explanation. Why was she at her friend's house?

A high-pitched shriek came from outside the house, carried over with the wind. It rolled in through the open window and fell onto Alice's shoulders. ~No,~ she tought fearfully. ~It's still after me! No!~ She found herself in another state of hysteria, a memory flashing past her eyes.

"Alice, run!" Hunt shouted, grabbing her around the shoulders. They were in Hunt's backyard, heading for the back door that led to the kitchen, to saftey. Alice felt the tears flow steadily down here face as Hunt guided her. The wind threatened to whip them back, Alice's hair blowly freely behind her.

"Almost there..." Hunt quickly fumbled with the doorknob. As he yanked the door open, a shriek erupted behind them. Suddenly, Alice felt Hunt's comforting arm yanked from her. She whirled around, crying out for Hunt.

He was being dragged across the grass, something wrapped around his ankle. It looked like a rope, but it was pinkish in color, as if a giant frog had ensnared her friend. He was screaming, desperately trying to wrench his ankle from the rope's clutches.

"Hunt!" Alice cried out. She started to run after him, The wind pushing against her.

"No! Alice! Run into the house!" Hunt commanded, his face twisted into an expression of fear. "I'll be fine! Just run into the house and shut the door!"

Tears streaming down her cheeks, Alice was consumed by uncertainty. What should she do? Hunt was her friend and obviously in trouble. But whatever had gotten Hunt would certainly be too powerful for her to take down. But Hunt was her only friend left. Darren, Anthony, and Burnie were all already dead. There was no one left to comfort and protect her except for Hunt...

Sobbing, Alice stumbled into the house, shutting the door behind her.

Alice felt the cold wind roll over her back. She was wearing a raggedy, sleeveless tank top and an equally raggedy pair of shorts. Her hair was unwashed and more stringy than usual. Her shoulders and back were sticky and smeared with dust, dirt, and blood.

Fear. All Alice could do was cry. She heard them outside the building she was in. The menacing growls. The earth-shaking roars. The ear-piercing shrieks. They were out there, and they wanted to kill her. Yet she couldn't move, she could only wallow in sadness. Hunt was dead. For all she knew, he could be one of them now. Now all her friends wanted to kill her...

She gripped her shins more tightly, feeling her nails piercing her skin and the blood flowing down her legs. Still sobbing, Alice withdrew her hands from her legs and held them in front of her eyes, trembling at the sight.

Her fingers had turned into wickedly sharp claws. She could no longer bend her fingers; they were completely stiff. Blood dotted the tips, droplets sneaking down to her palms.

~No!~ Alice screamed while she cried. ~NO!~

It was hopeless. All her friends were either dead of turned. And now she was turning...

Alice awoke from her nightmare with a scream.


	2. Exposition

A group of obvious friends was walking home from school, chatting and laughing. It was of, oddly enough, four boys and only one girl, who was currently getting a piggyback ride from the biggest boy.

The girl, from her appearance, looked quiet and a bit easily spooked. She had a pale complexion, sad blue eyes, and stringy, shoulder-length orange hair. Her name was Alice. She tended to be a bit weepy and often times thought of dark, sometimes disturbing thoughts. But she always stuck with her friends to drive those bad qualities away.

Anthony, the he biggest boy, was an obvious jock. It was obvious from his build to his blond, buzz cut hair, to his letterman jacket. While he tended to be a bit vain and pigheaded when it came to himself, he genuinely cared for the others, Alice especially.

Hunt was the smallest out of the group. He was often times the kindest friend, and was generally happy most of the time. Despite the late spring heat, he still wore his prized, dark gray hoodie with the hood up over his head.

Despite his relatively young age, one was smoking a cigarette. Darren had been an outcast ever since his move to town, and the group had quickly taken him in. He was seldom seen without his coat, about two sizes too big with a camouflage motif.

Last but not least was Burnie. He was a bit squeamish and well under the weather constantly. He was a bit pudgier than the others, although not self esteem was lost over this. He somehow managed to take the jokes from his friends in good stride.

Anthony, who was currently giving Alice a piggyback ride, was noting her twitching and slight moaning. She was having another bad dream. Anthony smiled, thinking about Alice. She was like a younger sister; she was dependent on others, was prone to having nightmares, and always managed to prompt a smile.

However, she was prompting worried thoughts instead of smiles. Anthony could feel her shaking as he carried her. While he couldn't see her, Darren, Burnie, and Hunt certainly could.

"How's she doing?" Hunt asked, plugged into his iPod. "Looks like another bad dream."

"I don't know," Anthony replied. "But whatever it is, it's bad." As if to signal this, Alice tightened her grip around Anthony's neck. "Really bad."

As they continued their walk, Alice's behavior took a turn for the worse. She was openly sobbing and screaming. As her behavior continued, her friends grew worried about her.

"Should we wake her?" Darren asked uncertainly. "It sounds bad..." Just as he was about to prod her awake, she awoke on her own, screaming.

"Hey, Alice! What's wrong?" Hunt asked, concerned. She breathed heavily, the aftermath of her dream hanging over her. Using his hoodie sleeve, Hunt gently wiped Alice's tears of her cheeks. "What were you dreaming about now?"

"I... I'm n-not s-s-sure," Alice moaned, her shoulders still heaving. "Hunt and I were running from something; I don't know what it was... W-w-whatever it w-was, it k-k-k-k-killed him..."

"Alice..." Anthony tightened his grip on the girl.

"I was all alone. Hunt was dead. I have no idea about the rest of you. You were z-zombies or m-m-monsters... You w-w-wanted to k-kill me, too..." She buried her head in Anthony's shoulder, drenching his prized letterman jacket.

"Jesus Christ," Burnie moaned. "You think of some really dark shit, you know that?"

Hey, Burnie, stop it," Hunt said bitterly. "Alice, it's OK. We're all alive; nothing's out to kill us."

"Yeah," Anthony grunted, hefting Alice up a bit. "Besides, if anything was out to kill you, we'd protect you. I'd pound the guy to bits." Melodramatic as it was, Anthony was serious. Nothing would come in between him and Alice. Not while he was still alive.

"Aw, thanks, guys," Alice said, brightening up a bit. "I guess I'm just overreacting again..."


End file.
